1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motor driven saber saw including a housing having a neck that serves as a handle and has a tool opening, a guide for guiding the saber saw on a workpiece and releasably connectable to the housing in a region of the neck, the guide including a connection element for connecting the guide to the housing, with the housing having a connection receptacle for guiding the connection element, and an adjusting device mountable on the connection receptacle for securing the connection element to the housing and spring-biased to its locking position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Known saber saws can usually be equipped with a guide such as a guide shoe or a tubular adapter in order to achieve a reliable and precise guidance of the saber saw on the workpiece. The guide permits to achieve a precise cut on the workpiece having at least regionwise a flat or round cross-section.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,091 discloses a saber saw having a housing, a guide shoe for guiding the saber saw on a workpiece, and a pendulum-driven, with a motor, plunger. The guide shoe is pivotally supported at an end of a connection rail provided with an elongate recess, with the connection rail being guided in a substantially rectangular rail guide provided in the saw housing. For securing the connection rail on the saber saw, there is provided a locking member displaceable in a recess formed in the saw housing and extending transverse to the rail guide. The locking member is pressed against the guide rail with a helical spring arranged in the same recess as the locking member. The locking member engages, in its non-actuated condition, toothing provided on the connection rail. For adjusting the position of the guide shoe and releasing the guide shoe, the locking member is pressed against the helical spring, so that it becomes disengaged from the connection rail toothing.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,317,988 discloses a saber saw having a guide shoe for guiding the saber saw on a workpiece, and in which the connection rail of the guide shoe is detached from the housing by a release of a clamping lever supported on the housing, and is brought into another position. Upon the connection rail being brought into another position, the clamping lever is again secured on the housing, with the clamping lever acting on a leaf spring that biases the connection rail, which now occupies a new position, against the housing, securing the connection rail to the housing.
A drawback of both known solutions of securing the connection element of the guide shoe to the housing consist in that the securing means requires a relatively large mounting space. This is unacceptable because the adjusting device is located inside the housing neck that serves as a handle during the operation. A large cross-section of the housing neck often results in a very bad handle ergonomy.
The conventional adjusting devices have a relatively expensive construction, or they can only be mounted in a housing that is expensive to produce. In both cases, the result is high manufacturing costs.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a saber saw with a guide in which the drawbacks of the conventional saber saw are eliminated.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a saber saw with a guide in which the adjusting device occupies minimum space and which can be produced with relatively small manufacturing costs.